Bernie Madoff Suffers Heart Attack in Prison, Has Failing Kidneys

Convicted fraud investor Bernie Madoff was hospitalized for a heart attack last month and has now returned to his federal prison in North Carolina, according to CNBC Wednesday.

CNBC reported on Wednesday that Madoff, 75, said in an email that he was treated at the Duke University Medical Center for his ailment before he was transferred back to the medium security prison near Butner, N.C.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons declined to comment to CNBC about Madoff's condition or treatment for his reported heart attack.

According to CNBC, Madoff has stage-four kidney disease but is not receiving dialysis.

Madoff is approaching his fifth year of a 150-year prison sentence for running the largest investment fraud in U.S. history, according to Reuters. Madoff pleaded guilty to the scheme in 2009, but the saga continues.

Five former Madoff employees are currently on trial in New York on charges that they helped Madoff defraud investors.

Politico reported earlier this month that JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay more than $2 billion in a civil and criminal settlement against charges that it helped Madoff run his fraudulent scheme by turning a blind eye to warning signs that the financier and investment adviser was taking his clients.

The Justice Department agreed not to charge individuals for the bank acknowledging its case and paying $1.7 billion to reported Madoff victims. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told Politico that JPMorgan did not take its anti-money laundering responsibilities seriously and essentially helped Madoff by ignoring his actions.

JP Morgan also had to pay the largest Justice Department ever for a violation of anti-money laundering laws and a $350 million fine from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank’s regulator, noted Politico.

Politico wrote that Madoff clients deposited some $150 billion into his accounts at JPMorgan from 1986 and 2008 with promises from the convicted financier to invest the funds, but he never did.

Madoff Securities boasted to its 4,000 client that its accounts were valued at $65 billion but actually had $300 million in assets, including $243 million in JPMorgan accounts when Madoff was arrested, according to Politico.